Rachel Atherton (Commencal) became the third winner in five races of the women's Downhill World Cup with a strong performance at the fifth round of the Women's World Cup Downhill in Windham, New York. Atherton's winning time was 2:50:029. She recorded the fastest splits everywhere on the course and was delighted with victory. Atherton also won on the Windham track last year in the World Cup final.

"I love this track," stated Atherton. "It's short, which suits me. It was really dry so I knew I had to go fast throughout. I'm really stoked to be number one here today."

Floriane Pugin (Scott 11) claimed second, 1.348 seconds behind Atherton. Pugin was the fastest qualifier and was expected to dominate the day. However, although her split on the top of the course was the second fastest, it was almost four seconds slower than Atherton. World champion Tracy Moseley (Trek World Racing), the World Cup leader, was third, 2.671 seconds back.

Top North American was Canadian national champion Micaylo Gatto in ninth, just ahead of U.S. champion Jill Kintner in tenth place. Gatto was one of the early leaders before a succession of riders began chipping away at the top time.

"It was as a pretty good run," commented Gatto. "Super dry. I love the course. I don't know if I'll be good enough for the top five, but the top ten would be nice. I'm kind of kicking myself for coasting where I should have been pedalling. All in all a good day. No crashes so I'm happy."

Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) was the first under three minutes, but then Myriam Nicole (Riding Addiction-Commencal) recorded the first sub-2:55 time. Moseley, third from last to start, knocked 1.4 seconds off of Nicole's time, but then Atherton smashed tht time by 2.671 seconds. Pugin, starting last slipped in between Atherton and Moseley.

In the World Cup points standings Atherton gained enough points solidify her third place position at 820 points, and could still surpass Pugin with two races to go. Continuing as the points leader is Moseley with 1080 points, followed by Pugin with with 980. The women's World Cup title is far from decided.

"I made a costly mistake right where you hit the road gap," explained Moseley. "I unclipped and couldn't get my foot in for a whole pedalling section. I lost a ton of acceleration time. I knew it was going to be a tight race. The three of us are having a damn good battle."